Last February 19, 2006, the Department of Education sponsored CAMP PAG-IBIG, a project for the Special Education students of the various public schools in Metro Manila. Here are some of the photos I took of the said event held at the Balara Filtration Plant in Quezon City, along with pics of interesting sites in Balara.

THE CAMP PAG-IBIG ARCH

Student and parents of the SPED students (that's my sister Rose in the foreground)

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

KUDOS TO THE ARMED FORCES AND THE PHIL. NATIONAL POLICE! Yesterday's capture of escaped Magdalo fugitive and traitor to the nation 1LT San Juan scores anotehr victory to the legitimate Arooyo government and a blow to the divisive Magdalo group. The trying-to-be elloquent San Juan went on a tirade which he probably thought was an insult to the government. He proudly stated that "this is the kind of justice i deserve for going against the illegitiamte government of arroyo". So was that an insult? He spent many years in the military and he cant even muster an insult worthy of his stature. tsk tsk.

Monday, February 13, 2006

I was fortunate enough to have been asked to be godfather (along with friends Jhackie Gabionza and Poppo Zamora) of Adrian Aguirre and RAchelle Santo Tomas' daughter Chelcci Arriane last Saturday, Feb. 12 at the Carmel Chruch in Project 6. Reception followed at the Cafe de Chine of the Great Eastern Hotel along Quezon Avenue. To "inaanak" Chelcci Arianne, welcoem to teh christian world!

In the press conference after the ULTRA stampede, a representative of the Philippine Daily Inquirer questioned why Wowowee was encouraging mendicancy. I am sad to say that the question was not answered properly. My family watched wowowee. Contrary to popular perception, the show's audiences are not composed of only the poor section of society. In fact, a large number of the audience and balik-bayans, and they are loaded with dollars. The show does not just dole out money, they give away kabuhayan showcases. This should not be construed, however, that many people are poor and depend on these game shows to survive. The truth is, most Filipinos watch these programs because they want to earn quick money. It is not that they do not have the means to work, but if one could win 2 million by joining these game shows, why not? It is unfair to brand shows like Wowowee as encouraging mendicancy. I find it outlandish for an Inquirer reporter to even ask such a question at a time when people are still getting over the tragedy. Oh well, there will always be people with crab mentality, and I guess she's just one of them. You know who you are. We are better off without you.

The enemies of the Lopez Family which own ABS-CBN, Meralco and other corporations must be rejoicing. They have just found an issue to push the ABS-CBN and the Lopezes into the mud. It is saddening to note that our culture and political machinery belong to the dark ages. The oligarchs have their turfs and we are just pawns. Now, the Lopez enemies are gearing up to take advantage of a tragedy which is clearly an accident and use it to bring down a corporate empire.

It is unfair for the fact-finding body looking into the ULTRA stampede to fast-track the investigation and try to pin the blame on one side only. Admittedly, ABS-CBN has some responsibility in the tragedy, but I have to put in my two cents worth on this. A week before the actual event, people were already lining up at the ULTRA. Documents from ABS-CBN show that they asked for "ample assistance" from the police. But even without such a request, the mere fact that it was visible to the naked eye that the number of people were growing as the days progress should have been enough for the police to have coordinated with the organizers and volunteer for assistance. That is the duty of our police—to serve and to protect. Why does it now appear that the police is claiming that the crowd control management be decided upon by the event organizers alone? The street is fair game… it is a public area that is the responsibility of the local government and the police force of Pasig City. I am very familiar with that particular gate of ULTRA. I have been in and out of that gate for years because two of my sisters used to work for SHAPE Center which is just at the end of that sloping path. It is not true that the path is not suitable for pedestrians. It is not as steep as is being portrayed by some people. Now we have the security forces of ULTRA and ABS-CBN pointing fingers at each other. The militant groups have joined the bandwagon to blame the government for the stampede! Incredible! Why can't we accept the fact that the stampede happened because we Filipinos lack discipline? We can be sure that this is not the end of the hooplah regarding the stampede. Soon, Congress and the Senate will ask for an investigation "in aid of legislation". Just a thought: How many laws were actually passed as a result of investigations in aid of legislation? Or maybe it is in aid of re-election? It is easy to put in our 2 cents worth. After all, hindsight has 20-20 vision. My God, are we that thick to admit that it was everyone else's fault except ours? God help us all!

Erap's birthday celebration last weekend in San Juan was a strange event to behold. The once respected Corazon Aquino and her former Justice secretary Franklin Drilon were seen posing with the deposed Erap Estrada in his residence in San Juan. No one would have thought that Erap, a Marcos boy through and through would eventually link hands with Cory and Drilon who were instrumental in his ouster years ago. Indeed, politics do make for strange bedfellows. This clearly manifests the insincerity of the this particular faction of the opposition just so they can oust a legally-elected president (and sitting) of the Republic. It has become obvious that there is a clear and concentrated effort from the opposition, aided by leftist groups (the same leftist groups who were in EDSA 2 demanding ERAP to resign!) to bring back to power a deposed president. Then there's the Hyatt 10 led by the traitor Dinky Soliman and aided by Butch Abad of Batanes (who I heard has a very beautiful albeit expensively-decorated house in Batanes). For the record, the opposition's overlord ERAP should remain in Tanay for the duration of his life (which some pray be less than a year). He should bring with him his senator-son Jinggoy. After all, Erap's domain there is heavily wooded and would be ideal for monkeys like the father-son tandem. And now, as I am writing this blog, who else is hogging the limelight and riding on the ULTRA stampede tragedy but the native Ita from Makati, Jejomar Binay blaming the president for everything from poverty to, who knows, athlete's foot. Why not blame Gloria for the Egypt ferry sinking as well? Should the opposition now pin the blame on Gloria for martial law? I don't discount that happening for after all, Cory and Drilon have shown their true political colors. Ninoy must be turning in his grave! Oh well, politics in this country is like that. We can hate one political figure now and love him the next. That is how politics is done here in this country. Again, politics make for strange bedfellows.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Yours truly and his sister were invited by Poppo Zamora, his fiance Jackie Gabionza and Poppo's family at the town fiesta of Hermosa in Bataan last Monday, January 30, 2006. We arrived on the day of the fiesta itself, which fell on a Monday. We were treated to a feast of chicken, pork, shrimp and sugpo and crabs, and of course, lechon at Poppo's family's residence in Hermosa. Of course there was the usual singing and drinking and dancing and all the fun stuff one would expect at any town fiesta. Hope you like the pictures, courtesy of the ever-beautiful Jackie G.